Jake put newspaper in his boots, so i tried it. I pulled a couple damp peices of paper out of my boots yesterday and the (tech8) booties were dry!! Sweet tip right there. Also, i wanted some large wrenches on the trail to pull both axle, spark plug, ect. Bare minimum though. If you have the terry cable tire irons, the iron part unthreads from the red handle, they are 3/8 coarse. I welded some 3/8" coarse couplers to some old sockets i cut up to make them thinner and lighter, so now i just spin on whatever socket, or 12mm allen, to my tire iron handle. I was to cheap to buy the motion pro combo deal.
Lot of cool tips here... I don't know if this is old news or not but I was looking for an easier way to check and set sag rates accurately without a helper and this is what I came up with: First I just took a 3' piece of 3/8" wooden dowl and attached three HD zip ties and trimmed the tails to a point. I put some eye bolts in a corner of the shop so the bike can be balanced upright with the help of a couple of tiedowns. Before checking, the two outside pointers can be set to the extended fork or swingarm dimension and the center to the desired sag. Then after mounting the bike (with riding gear or a backpack with 15- 20LB in it) and bouncing a couple times the center pointer can be (if needed) slid to actual sag for comparison. This little tool actually worked pretty good because the bottom pointer could be slid inside the front or rear axle and the top pointers were easy to see and adjust. This made for precise repeatable measurements, without using up valuble helper points. I used the easy smeasy zip tied dowl for several years before I finally made a metal replacement with thumb screws on the sliding pointers. ... oh and the "sag ruler" can also be used for verifying the rear axle alignment index marks.
X, nice homebuilt tool! and alternatives for sag setting. I use the folding ruler one from Motion Pro. (fits in the traveling toolbox)(no slide and stay feature) http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0336 But they also now have this "trick" set up as well, same slide and stay logic as Xcuvator's http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0406/
Another silly/simple one for the older machines or at least on the 06 and 08 it works. After putting the side panels on I always put on a zip tie around the top of the plastic cover around the "grab handle" to keep the side cover secure in case of hardware loss. Reason: during a race my rear mount screw came out and the side cover was left flapping around. An unpleasant race/ride mode distraction. With the zip tie in place the panel will stay put even if the mount screws go away.(value added insurance)
Securing the side panels is a good idea. I have had them come loose too. Thanks for the links for the MP tools. I hadn't seen them. I still like the three reference points though.
This thread seems more about tools but I thought I'd add this anyway. When aligning forks, start with not only the front wheel off but also the caliper off. You should have one fork leg secured and torqued and the other just barley holding in. Tap the loose fork up and down with a rubber mallet until the axle can slide through with the least resistance. Removing the caliper will relieve the stress that the cables are causing(wants to twist) and give a more acurate process. When you get the least resistance, torq the other fork leg and proceed with aligning the axle. I use a clean grease free axle during this process and add a supper light coat of grease after both fork legs are done.
I burn thru knobbies here and have to use a few tricks to make them last ... But after a knobby turns slick ... Its just slick ... I'm gonna try cutting the round edges off the knobs and see how that goes ... I'm really hoping I can feel the difference ... Here is my knobby knife ... 150P cost ... Most of the locals in the providences have a much bigger version than mine shown here for working in the woods ... I'll toss it in a fire to heat the blade if needed but on first use, I was slicing that worn knobby like butter ... or like it was a pimkin pie... Gotta be like a surgeon anytime near the base of a knob or you might slice into the main tire and not a knob... Finished with the rear! I'll be testing this rubber chop-job within a day or 2 ...
Today was test day for this chop job ...and I was double lucky as it rained 1/2 through the ride .... Seemed as if this small amount of work payed off ... In the dry stuff, I thought I could tell the grip was ~better ... But in the mud ... Much better for me after it rained, Today I kept going when normally I would have returned out of the trails because my tire is toast and I try not to spend the day pushing my bike up muddy hills or crashing as I try to carry too much speed due to my tire ... I'm sure I'll continue to chop my tire in the future when the weather is wet ... maybe next time I'll start a fire and heat the blade and see how the cutting is like than ...
"Fanny pack" is not a term we use in public. Hope it means something else over on your side. (Certainly not where I´d care to put nuts and bolts)
I modified a cheap Chiner soldering iron to accept a cheap Chiner knife blade to trim knobs. That was back when the Knobbie Knives came out. Just couldn't see the 50$+. I used it on a couple of tires and it actually worked pretty good. For some reason I kind of forgot about it. I would think that as much as you ride over there, trimming tires could add up to saving a pile of $$$ in a year.
I can't do $50 either but I bet with a cool like that, chopping the tire will be very short span of time ... It only took me about 20 minutes the first time and no sweat .. It'll save money on tires AND make the quality of the rides better ... We all know putting on a new knobby is a ~~somewhat, almost holy , experience for a dirt bike on the first few rides till the tires starts wearing ... For me, as the rubber wears, the quality of the rides start to go south as the traction just is not there for many moves you might normally make on a bike ... I'm hoping to chop a tire its life and keep some degree of new-knobby feel to my rides ...
One more post here on the tire .... This tire got really all gnarly looking again after just a couple rides in the mountains ... Looks like the cut sides tried to grip again and got ripped up ... Next new tire I use on the trails will get the knobby cut its entire life till toasted ... I'll do one more long ride on it and maybe call it toasted ... Looks like it really needs to be turned around and chopped on to get the opposite side of the luggs gnarled off ...
I used to do that on 50% rear tires. Now since reading about endurocross setup for knobbies I just take a worn 1/16th inch bolt cutter blade on the 4 inch grinder and cut a 1/4 inch deep[or so-depends how worn the disc is] and 1/16 inch wide groove straight across the middle of each rear knob on the back. Just takes a few minutes and you have a new set of driving edges on every knob. Another benefit is the knob has more flex for more hookup on the grass track
